Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said India have got their priorities. He even speculated that the Men in Blue might play a bilateral series with Australia ahead of the mega ICC event.

Team India’s South Africa tour is set to begin from December 26 in Centurion. The visitors will play 3 Tests, followed by as many ODIs. Initially, the tour was supposed to kick off on December 17 and the teams were scheduled to play all three formats. But considering the situation of Covid in the Rainbow nation, the BCCI and CSA mutually agreed to retain the Tests and ODIs and postpone the T20I series.

Despite the fact that the next T20I world cup is a few months away, India decided to drop the T20I series. The move was hugely praised by former Pakistan captain Salman Butt. Speaking in his latest YouTube video, he said India have got their priorities. He even speculated that the Men in Blue might play a bilateral series with Australia ahead of the mega ICC event.

“It’s about priority. Yes, it is true that it (2022) is the year of the World Cup but they will get to play plenty of cricket in the IPL. It is also possible that closer they reach Australia closer to the World Cup and play (a series) there.

“You never know because they have done it in the past and they can make such arrangements. There could be another reason but one thing is for sure that their priority is ODI and Test cricket,” Butt said.

Earlier, in one of his previous videos, the former Pakistan captain explained why India is a successful side in the longest format of the game.

“India prepare for it. If you see, India’s ‘A’ teams go to England, Australia. Even now, they were on the tour of South Africa,” Butt said, replying to a fan’s question.

“I’ll give you an example. A high proportion of Mohammed Siraj’s first-class matches came outside India, where he took part in four-day games. Other countries aren’t doing that. They aren’t sending their ‘A’ teams for four-day cricket like India. Earlier, you used to see Australia ‘A’ coming to Pakistan, or even Sri Lanka ‘A’ or South Africa ‘A’ used to come here,” he added.